Beyond the Facts:  Sexuality Myth Endorsement in University Students and the General Public 

Many people do not receive adequate sex education and sex often remains a taboo subject—even among adults. This leads many to look for information about sexuality in the anonymous world of the internet—a place where we can get answers to even our most embarrassing questions but that also contains a lot of misinformation. Consequently, some of the things people believe about sexuality are likely wrong. Such incorrect beliefs are often referred to as “sexuality myths.” Believing them can shape how people feel about themselves, how they communicate with partners, and how they take care of their sexual health. But so far, we know rather little about how these beliefs are formed. 

In our project, we surveyed more than 200 university students (Study 1) and nearly 500 members of the Austrian public (Study 2) to examine how common sexuality myths are and how they are connected to holding other irrational beliefs and having a safe, satisfying sex life. Our results show that some of these myths are widespread. For example, over 60 percent of students and more than 70 percent of the general public believed that a person is considered a virgin, medically speaking, until they have had penetrative sex, although doctors agree that virginity is a social construct and not a biological reality. People who endorsed more myths also tended to know fewer facts about sexuality, were more likely to believe myths in other areas such as creativity or neuroscience, and were more inclined toward conspiracy beliefs. 

Connections between believing in sexuality myths and sexual well-being were complex. We did not find a direct link to overall sexual satisfaction or risky behavior (e.g., having unprotected sex). However, people who endorsed fewer myths and showed better knowledge reported more confidence when communicating about sex with their partners. In the general public, lower myth endorsement was also linked to being more satisfied with one’s life and engaging in safer sex practices, such as using protection or getting tested for sexually transmitted infections. At the same time, many participants misjudged their own knowledge about sexuality: they underestimated how well they could tell myths from facts, yet overestimated how much they knew compared to others. 

Taken together, our findings show that sexuality myths are an issue that affects not only young people but adults of all ages. They are connected to how people talk about sex, how they protect themselves, and even how satisfied they are with their lives. Tackling these myths through better education, reliable information, and public awareness is therefore an important step toward supporting sexual health and overall well-being. Still, many questions about sexuality myths remain open and I'm excited about conducting more research in this area.

Funding:  I thank the County of Styria (Wirtschaft, Tourismus, Wissenschaft und Forschung) for acknowledgin the relevance of research on sexuality myths and funding this project.

Who Believes Sexuality Myths?

A common assumption about sexuality myths is that people believe them mainly because they never received good sex education. But is this the whole story?

In this study, 280 adults recruited online via Prolific were asked about their beliefs regarding common sexuality myths. They also provided background information such as their education level, political views, and sexual orientation, and completed questionnaires about their moral values, attitudes toward gender and sexuality, and aspects of their sexual well-being.

Our results showed that some people were more likely than others to believe sexuality myths and to struggle to distinguish myths from facts. In particular, those who were more politically conservative, had lower levels of education, and identified as heterosexual tended to endorse more myths. Interestingly, how thorough someone’s sex education was was not linked to whether they held irrational beliefs about sexuality. This suggests that simply providing more information is not enough to eliminate these myths.

Psychological factors played a more important role. People who placed strong emphasis on moral beliefs related to upholding standards of purity and decency and those who endorsed conservative ideas about gender and sexuality—such as traditional expectations for men’s and women’s sexual behaviour—were more likely to believe sexuality myths, even after accounting for their demographic background.

On the other hand, measures of sexual well-being, like sexual satisfaction, distress about sexuality, or sexual functioning, were only weakly linked to how many myths people endorsed or how well they could tell myths from facts. This indicates that the connection between sexuality myths and how well people are doing sexually is complex and not simply a matter of being satisfied or dissatisfied with one’s sex life.

Taken together, these findings suggest that missing information is not the only factor behind sexuality myths. Personal values and social norms—especially those related to purity and traditional gender and sexual roles—seem to play a key role. Addressing sexuality myths may therefore require not just better sex education, but also open discussion and critical reflection on the beliefs and norms that make some people more likely to reject accurate information about sex.